Janusowe oblicze suwerenności - między faktycznością i obowiązywaniem

Abstract

The article discusses the Janus-faced character of sovereignty. On the one hand it may mean auctoritas , a power de jure not merely de facto . On the other hand, it may be seen as potentia , a power de facto instead of de jure . Appropriately, sovereignty is conceived as purely juristic idea, purely political idea or in terms of a paradoxical threshold of indistinction between a situation of fact and a situation of right. The problematic relation of the law of nature and the civil law as discussed by Hobbes and his commentators points out that there is an inalienable tension present in the category of sovereignty. This tension or Janus-faced character of sovereignty may be seen as a problem of reconciliation of jurisdiction and gubernaculum as the two indispensable sides of political institutions.